GIVING BACK TO GRANDE Prairie
Volunteering is important to my life and family. It’s how we make our community better. How we met most of our friends. And where we have a lot of our fun. And how we thank Grande Prairie for being so good to us. Here are some of the ways I’ve given back to Grande Prairie.
DISC GOLF
When I first moved to Grande Prairie, I founded the local Disc Golf Club. I also designed, installed, and fundraised for the Thrill Hill Disc Golf Course. I still serve on the Club’s board, fundraise, teach youth, and organise events. I’ve also been involved in the design and construction of the two other public courses in our region. Disc golf is a free opportunity for our residents to get active in our parks. By introducing foot traffic, it also cleaned up some troubling and criminal activity in our parks. I’m very proud of my work to help introduce an affordable and accessible recreation opportunity to our community.
Neighbourhood Focus
Strong neighbourhoods are a bedrock to vibrant communities. I have put a lot of time into volunteering with my neighbours. I was a founding board member of my Neighbourhood Association. I’ve helped with many community projects including improving our parks, maintaining a rink, organising neighbourhood mixers, and City Scrubs. I’ve also been very involved in our neighbourhood school’s parent Council. Getting neighbours meeting and working together is the best way to make Grande Prairie Stronger and better.
Helping youth
I love opportunities to help support and strengthen our next generations. I moved to Grande Prairie to run youth programs throughout the Peace Country. Young people have also been a focus of my volunteer work. I have run youth disc golf tournaments and leagues and led the Ambassador programs for the Alberta Summer and Winter Games to give young people athletic community and opportunity. I also volunteer on the United Way Board, which has changed the organisations’ mandate to be focused on alleviating youth poverty in our community.
OTHER COMMUNITY ROLES
I enjoy finding a variety of challenges and needs in our community. This has led to me volunteering for Bear Creek Folk Festival, the Community Accessibility Advisory Committee, the evaluation team for Community Building Youth Futures, and various committees with Swan City Rotary Club. I’ve also provided communications support, strategic planning facilitation, governance coaching, and fundraising work to various non-profits. This work is in addition to the many boards and committees I’ve been appointed to by Council.